In this case study I explored the dilemmas of three early childhood care and education (ECCE) teachers in a poor community in the Cape Flats of Cape Town, South Africa during COVID-19, and how they used these dilemmas to transform their teaching. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants and data was collected through a…

The quality of early childhood programs plays a crucial role in improving outcomes for children. Play-based practices are considered a vital component in early childhood development as they offer opportunities for children to learn and grow. Despite this, the field is still trying to understand the role of teachers in facilitating play and their…

This research intended to determine the alternative assessment methods used by the preschool teachers and their opinions, knowledge and competencies related to these methods. The research group of the study comprised of 10 kindergarten teachers working in Konya province during the 2017-2018 academic year in Turkey. The data obtained through the…

This study explores "toddling style" in adult-child interaction. Toddling style was conceptualised by Gunvor Løkken in relation to toddlers' playful and social style in peer groups; however, adults' position was rarely explored. Therefore, this article aims to examine adults' emotional and playful support in creating, maintaining and…

Educators' self-efficacy influences their practice and thus determines the quality of teaching in early childhood education and care (ECEC). This study analyzed educators' self-efficacy to teach physical education (PE) and the differences between pre-service and in-service early childhood educators. Early childhood educators (N = 381) completed a…

Children's food preferences are strongly associated with their consumption patterns. Children tend to choose foods with which they are familiar. It is proposed that the earlier and broader the experience with food, the healthier the child's or adult´s diet. In a focus group we developed a toolkit consisting of a training course for kindergarten…

Research indicates that mathematical understanding before formal schooling influences later attainment. This study investigated the mathematical activities of preschool-aged children in Japan, a neglected topic despite the high mathematical attainment of Japanese children. Preschool activities were investigated using surveys, observations, and…

The present study investigated the structural relationships between Korean preschool teachers' work environments, self-efficacy, and children's peer play interactions; it also examined the mediating influence of teacher-child interactions on these relationships. This study performed SEM analysis on 1193 teachers' survey responses from the 2014…

With the decline in Australian school children's mathematics skills, the spotlight is shining on the quality of early childhood mathematics teaching and learning in the preschool years. Spatial thinking--which includes spatial orientation and spatial visualization--contributes to early mathematical thinking and children have the capacity to…

Grounded in Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory, this paper examines how often teachers are involved in children's imaginative play and discusses their beliefs about their role in supporting children's imaginative play. To investigate this problem, video (65 hours of digital observations) and interview data (two hours and 30 minutes) of 60…

This paper reports on the perceptions early childhood teachers hold about digital technologies, children and childhood and how their perceptions influence their pedagogical decision-making. Symbolic interactionism was the theoretical lens used to give insights and meanings to the early childhood teachers views, experiences and ascribed meanings.…

There is a prevailing myth that young children do not notice race (Doucet & Adair, 2013; Hirschfeld, 2012). While, in fact, infants as early as three months old notice race (Bar-Haim et al., 2006; Kelly et al., 2005). If numerous early childhood educators find discussing race and ethnicity inappropriate for young children, children could be…

Policy makers around the world increasingly mandate play-based learning in kindergarten classrooms, a pedagogical approach backed by research espousing not only the developmental appropriateness of play-based learning for this age group but also the benefits to students' academic achievement. Despite these mandates, researchers continue to see a…

Interest has grown internationally in the concept of physical literacy [Dudley, D. 2015. "A Conceptual Model of Observed Physical Literacy." "The Physical Educator" 72: 236-260; Edwards, L., A. Bryant, R. Keegan, K. Morgan, and A. Jones. 2017. "Definitions, Foundations and Associations of Physical Literacy: A systematic…

Research documents that young children in high-quality teacher-child relationships experience better school adjustment and are more engaged in learning. Yet, many American kindergarten (age 5) teachers report spending less time on relationship building and children's social and emotional development given pressure to have students reading and…